TTartisan 50mm f/1.2
Performance
The image quality achieved by this lens is really very solid. At open apertures the images render nicely with great falloff into the bokeh. Closed down brings plenty of sharpness that I can use even with my 40mp X-h2. Of course no lens is perfect, and at its $100 price point - I really cant fault this lens. Wide open is impressive - but users should expect to get some chromatic aberration in high contrast scenes. The lens will also produce some halation at those wider apertures as well, but I like to think of it as a built in pro-mist filter.
Stopped down 2.8 and beyond all of those issues are resolved and the image is very sharp. Bokeh is nice with a distinct falloff that is very appealing. Very surprising for a lens of this price!
Physical Build
Build quality of this lens is about what I would expect from a cheap lens. Lenses at this price range have been steadily getting nicer and nicer and this one is no exception. All metal bodies are almost standard at this point in the cheap manual lens market. The finish is on par with other lenses in the category, the body is painted black with laser etched markings on the aperture and focus rings.
The aperture clicks are nice and pronounced, but easy to change. Sometimes a little too easy, so beware the F-Stop not being the same as what it was set to a few minutes ago, especially when moving around the city. The focus throw is also nice and dampened. To be honest I don't think I've had the lens long enough to see if that dampening will hold up. My gut tells me it will suddenly deteriorate one day with no warning. I have had that happen on multiple occasions with other cheap lenses, especially after sitting on the shelf for a little while. I think its whatever grease they use breaks down after some point.
The glass is really pleasing to look at - The front and rear elements both have a really nice multi coating on them. I find myself just staring at the glass sometimes, the optics have this depth to them that is hard to describe but really catches my eye. The mount is also very nice - made of metal with a nice finish so mounting the lens is smooth too. There is some play on the mount, so beware its not perfect - but that has no effect on performance.
Overall this lens is above average for where its placed in the market but longevity is yet to be seen. In the 4-5 months I've had it as of writing this review its been great.
Usability / Camera Settings
I enjoy my manual lenses to have focus tabs. This lens not having one was a problem, so one of the first things I did to it was creat one. I took some Sugru, a moldable rubber product and created one directly on the lens. After letting it cure overnight it has made using this lens much more enjoyable. As a sidenote, If anyone plans on doing this to their own lens - Make sure the focus tab is clocked properly on the lens so the focus throw is confortable. Focus tabs that are placed in the wrong position will be pretty much useless and more frustrating than using nothing at all.
On the X-pro3 - I have configured my camera to be able to use the OVF while still having a little focusing patch in the viewfinder to make sure that I am able to focus quickly. I also use the EVF when I want to more easily focus my photographs, usually when I am on the move. Whether I am in EVF or OVF I have focus peaking enabled.
A note on focus peaking
Focus peaking is awesome - and tweaking it to make it better for you is more awesome. Personally I choose to make the peaking color yellow for its high contrast. On top of that I like to go a step further and choose a Monochrome image profile to increase the amount of contrast I get on the image. The black on yellow really pops.
Now, personally I enjoy B&W photography, so this is not a change that forces me to compromise my images, but if I wanted to capture a color image all I would do is switch my camera to RAW, but keep the image profile B&W. This allows me to view the image in B&W with yellow peaking through the viewfinder, but get a color final image that I can edit or run through fuji raw editor to get my desired film simulation.
Some photographers may find using manual focus to really get in their way or inhibit their ability to capture what they want. I find that while It may be a challenge to start, its well worth putting in the work to get results out of this lens. Its really quite good. Plus there are some unconsidered pro's to having such a cheap lens. They are expendable, knock around lenses to most. I know I have used this lens in conditions I probably would not have used others and because of that captured photographs I wouldn't have been able to capture.
TL;DR
If you have the money or find it on marketplace, don't care about manual focusing, and understand this isn't Leica glass - Get it. it will be fun and you'll be surprised.
If you cant do manual focus, don't waste your time or money.
